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Governors to Obama: Don’t Cut Guard

(March 4, 2014) Fifty governors oppose the possible cuts to the Army National Guard and have made their feelings known in a letter to President Barack Obama.

The letter, which was sent through the National Governors Association, was mailed to the president Friday. The letter, which can be read here, has the signatures of 50 governors, including those from Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The governors reject portions of the defense budget revealed last week that cut the size of the Army Guard, making it, the governors claim, more like a pre-9/11 strategic reserve than an operational force. The budget also removes much of the Army Guard’s aviation fleet.

“A return to a pre-9/11 role squanders the investment and value of the Guard and discredits its accomplishment at home and as an active combat force,” they wrote.

They ask the president to reconsider cuts to the manpower in the Guard and the force’s aviation fleet and work with the governors to determine the proper structure of the Army Guard.